Chase's Battle
by Asha Davis
Summary: It's a sad thing. Cancer is, it's something that is ripping through the nation today. When it reaches the Davenport house hold things almost come to a halt. How will everyone deal with the different types of pain they are facing? *A Tribute to those who have lost the battle*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I sit on the couch laying on my back. Thinking about… life. Everything has changed. Ever since I went to the hospital a couple days ago and I received earth shuddering, life altering news. I think back to that day. They day I will never forget no matter how much I want to.

*Flashback*

"Come on Chase!" Trent yells at me during gym class. I am running as fast as I can, but I can't keep up. I have no energy, I never have energy anymore.

"I'm trying…" I gasp. A couple more steps and I can rest. I tell myself all you have to do is- oh man not again! I stop and dump my lunch on the floor. Eww's grosses and girly screams fill the air.

"Really Chase? That is the second time this week. What is it with you and puking on my gym floor?" Trent ask me. Normally after puking I feel better. But right now I feel like…. Why am is so light? Why are the corners of my eyes getting so, dark?

"Chase!" A distant voice yells at me. But it is too late I am gone.

When I wake up I am in a hospital room. In a warm bed. I use my bionics, but they are not there. Why can't I use my bionics? I still up. My head is dizzy and I fall back a little.

"Easy." A sweet voice says. I see Tasha standing above me smiling weakly. "How are you feeling?"

"Why I am here? All I did was pass out." I ask her. She bites her lip and says-

"Chase you have been out for 27 hours."

"What!" I exclaims. Mr. Davenport walks in and smiles when he sees me.

"You're up!" He says excitedly.

"Yay I know. Why am I here? Why was I out for so long? What's wrong with me? And where the heck is my chip!" I exclaim.

"Whoa slow down buddy you aren't exactly in the best shape right now." He says. "Listen I had to take out your chip before we took you here because I didn't want the doctors to see it, all right?"

"Okay, fine but-"

"Mr. and Mrs. Davenport?" A man in a white coat says. "Can I speak to you out in the hall?" They nod and walk out into the hall. They are gone for a really long time. I know that can't be good. But I choose to ignore it. When they finally walk back in Mr. Davenport looks like he has seen a ghost and Tasha is crying.

"Mr. Davenport? What's wrong with me?" I choke.

"Chase, you have stomach cancer." Are his only words.

*End of Flashback*

I went home 2 days later. At first everyone was really quite. Adam was distant and Bree was sad. Tasha was distorted. Mr. Davenport distracted himself with inventions. But Leo was the best. He brought video games and made everything less tense. In the end he was the one who brought us back together. Now things seem more normal. It's a Saturday, so I don't have school. I am going to school on Monday, but not Tuesday. I have my first appointment with my oncologist on Tuesday. We are going to find out what stage the cancer is at and what type of treatment I will be using.

"Hay." Adam says to me as he plops down on the coach next to me.

"Hay." I say back. Then there is an awkward silence.

"Do you want to go see that new movie about food people?" I ask him. I heard him say a couple days ago that he really wanted to go see it. I thought I looked stupid, but if Adam wants to go see it, I'll see it to.

"Really?" He asks me sounding surprised.

"Yay, unless you don't want to go." I answer.

"NO, I'd love to go. I am just surprised that you want to go." He tells me smiling.

"It looks like it might be interesting." I lie. I really just want to send time with him without him feeling awkward.

"Alright let's go!" He yells. He then jumps up and runs out the door.

"ADAM YOUR PANTS!" I yell out to him. He has forgotten to put them on.

The movie was awful, but Adam loved it and that's all that matters. He talks about his favorite parts all the way home. I just smile and listen. Although in the middle of his rant about the evil green bean king he asks me an unexpected question.

"Chase are you scared?"

"What?" I ask him.

"Are you scared of you know, dying?" He asks seriously. In all honesty I haven't even thought about the possibility of death yet.

"Umm, I haven't really thought about it, but no not really, why?" I answer.

"Just wondering." He says. Then he goes right back to his rant. Although I don't really focus on his rant. I just think about the suddenly very real option of death. Way to get me scared Ada

When we get home Bree is sitting hip to hip with Owen.

"Hi guys." I say when we walk in.

"Hay" They both say.

"What are you-"

"SHH nerd, I am trying to watch a movie." Bree hushes.

"I think I am going to make a Statue of Liberty out of cheese and marshmallows." Adam says. Then an explosion rings through the house and Mr. Davenport and Leo come running through the house while a bunch of robots chase them. Glad to see thinks are finally back to normal.

**I am going to update this very very very slowly. So, sorry** **Like, really slow you have no idea although you should review maybe if there are a lot of reviews I will find time to update**

**spoiler**** alert- Does anyone remember my old character Jonah from Brian Damage? : )**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Monday comes slowly. For some reason school seems like the only place that I will fell like there is nothing going on in my life, no cancer and nothing to worry about, but school. But I am wrong. Apparently it was announced at school that I have stomach cancer. Because the second I walk into the building I get stares that could kill. I notice that Adam, Bree and Leo also notice the awkwardness. People stop talking anf stare at me as I walk by.

"Guys, I don't like this.." I whisper to them.

A couple months ago I was willing to almost expose my bionics to get attention, but now that I have it, I hate it. I quickly go to my locker, grab my stuff and head to my first class, biology. When I walk in people stare. When I sit down, people stare. When I get out my book, people stare. It really bothers me. To my relief, class starts soon. Although no one pays any attention, they are all staring at me like I am about to explode or something. I try to ignore it, but eventually even the teacher ends up staring at me.

"Really people?" I snap. "Do I need to put up a sigh? Yes, I have stomach cancer. Now will everyone stop staring at me?" Slowly heads turn to the board, but now I am too embarrassed to pay any attention. Why did I have to flip out in front of the whole class?

"Chase?" My bio teacher says to me as I walk out of the class room after the bell rings.

"Yes, Mr. Benson?" I ask. I pray he isn't going to yell at me for disrupting his class.

"I was wondering if you have thought about going to a cancer- patient support group. My niece went to one when she had cancer and said she really enjoyed it, and I think you might to." He recommends. Why would I go to one of those? That sounds stupid I don't need other people to tell me about their pain. I have enough of my own. "Well, how about I send the imformation to your father?"

"Ummm, thanks" I say.

I don't want to go to some support group where I listen to other people talk about their pain. I have enough of my own. I walk out to my locker. Less people stare, but there are still some. The only good part of this situation is the sympathetic looks I'm getting from girls.

"CHASE!" Leo screams as he sprints toward me. Why is he running down the hall so fast? What is that thing following him? Is that an orb, oh snap.

"Leo I told you not to touch them, they are still unstable!" I yell over the screams of other students.

"Sorry what was that? I'm a little busy running for my life!" He yells. Lasers are starting to fire at him and people are running hectic.

"Go into the bathroom!" I demand. I pray it's empty. I follow him into the empty bathroom. I lift my handle and grab the orb with my molecular kinesis. Luckily Mr. Davenport put my chip back in once I got back home. I throw the orb against the wall until it's in a million little pieces.

"Thanks." He pants.

"No pr-"The feeling once again over takes me. My stomach shoves my tiny breakfast up my esophagus and out my mouth.

"Really!" I yell after it's on the ground.

"Chase, look." Leo says with wide eyes. He points to my puke.

"I know." I say "I just up-chucked." Why is he surprised? Didn't he get the stomach cancer memo.

"No not the puke, the… blood." He whispers. I notice it to. There is a ton of blood in my throw-up. I know it's just a side effect of the cancer.

"I know, it's been showing up for a while now." I tell him.

"I don't feel so good" Leo mutters as he collapses on the floor in front of me.

"Leo!" I yell as I run to his side. I start to fan his face hoping to wake him up. Slowly his eyes flutter open. I forgot Leo can't handle blood.

"Sorry" He groans.

"It's okay." I say. I help him up. "I better tell the janitor about the… ummm you know." I dance around the word blood hoping to keep Leo awake. He nods and I help him out of the bathroom and to his next class.

I wonder if I going to get my English paper back today? I ponder as I walk toward the school office. English is the one subject my bionics don't really help that much, so I always work extra hard in that class. I wonder if Miss Barry liked my paper on the relationship the moon has with the tides. It really is an interesting topic. I mean the way the moon and the-

"I love you." My super ears pick up. I turn and see the words are coming from a closed locker room. "I love you, I love you" It continues to whisper. I shake my head, some people just don't when to get a room.

"I love you too, I love you too." A girl gasps back. Wait, was that Bree?

"I know baby, I know baby." He whispers to her.

"Will you always love me?" She asks back.

"I will always love you Bree Davenport." He whispers to her. THAT"S BREE. How could Owen do this to her? I run into the locker room. The lights are turned off, but using my super sight I can see them. They are all over each other, their cloths are spread over the floor. They are only in their underwear.

"HEY, whose their!" Owen yells at me. I run and jump on him.

"Get off her!" I scream at him as I start to hit him. Normally I am a great fighter, but lately I have just been so weak. He easily pushes me off him and throws me against the wall and I fall to the ground. My body hurts. I abdomen yells at me. Tears fill my eyes as he kicks me in the stomach. Bree runs to the lights and switches them on.

"CHASE! Owen stop. It's just Chase!" She yells on the verge of tears. But he doesn't stop. He keeps kicking. Hot, burning tears flood my face. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. Then it stops. I open my closed eyes and see Bree has thrown him off my carcass.

"What is wrong with you?" She demands loudly.

"What? You are sticking up for him? He just jumped me!" He yells at her.

"Go!" She hisses.

"But-"

"NOW!" She screams. I am still lying on the ground. Blood is dripping out of my mouth. I can't tell what it's from though. The cancer or being hit in the face.

"Chase?" She asks. He comes to Bree's angry yelling.

"Are you okay?" Why isn't she yelling at me? I just interrupted her... uumm, well you get it. I try to answer, but all that comes out is puke. The reddest and bloodiest puke ever. Lighted head, dark corners of the eyes, bye.

What is this ungodly pain? I think the second my eyes open.

"Uuuggghhh" I moan. I sit up, even though it kills.

"Chase?" Bree voice asks. I am sitting on the couch and she is sitting in a chair across from me.

"Yeah Bree?" I croak. What does she want, to yell at me?

"I'm…. I'm sorry." She whispers like she is about to cry.

"For what?" I burst.

"For doing that." She cries.

"All you did was get Owen off me before he killed me." I assure her.

"No, you know what I mean. I shouldn't have been doing that with Owen. He doesn't really care about me. I knew that, I was just so upset, about, about…. Your cancer." She sniffs.

"I, I, don't know what to say."

"Chase, I'm scared." She whimpers and she jumps up and rushes toward me and wraps herself around me. It hurts, but it's worth it. A part of me wants to ask her want she is sacred of, but I know what it is.

"Don't, it's going to be okay, I promise." She nods as she cries into my shoulder. I rub her back until she calms herself.

"I should go back to school." She sniffs as she wipes her eyes.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"About 11:30." She answers.

"I'm coming with." I say standing up.

"Are you sure?" She asks.

"Yeah, but let's not tell Mr. Davenport about this, okay?" I tell her.

"Okay!" She quickly agrees. I don't think she wants him to find out about this either. Then she super speeds us back to school.

**So, anything you want me to put in this story I will, I got another story called Lab Rats of SHEILD that it would be cool if you review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Please excuse the punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. I tried to get most of them but I know some probably got through **

Chapter 3

"Please just eat it." Mr. Davenport begs me.

"No." I refuse, "I won't eat it."

"Please sweetie, it's just a piece of dry toast." Tasha coaxes.

"No." I tell them. Never have I been so against eating something as simple as toast. It's not that I don't like toast. It's just the fact that if I eat it, I'll puke it all up and I am really not looking forward to throwing up on my oncologist the first time I meet him.

"Just leave him alone." Bree snaps at Mr. Davenport and Tasha. She has been really protective of me since yesterday afternoon.

"Fine." He mutters and he walks away from me. I smile at the little battle I have just won. The rest of breakfast is silent.

"Alright", Mr. Davenport says at 8:15, "time for you three to head to school." Adam, Bree and Leo, nod and grab their bags and head out the door.

"So", Mr. Davenport says to me once the front door clicks shut, "you ready for this?"

Today we find out about my cancer. We know I have stomach cancer, but that's really it. We don't know of any treatment opinions or even what stage my cancer is. Today we find out how bad things really are.

"Yeah, I guess so." I grumble.

"Then down to the lab." He instructs. I nod and get out of my chair and head down to the lab.

"Into your capsule." I obey.

Mr. Davenport hits a couple buttons and then I feel my chip being removed from the back of my neck. It stings a little, but not enough to actually say it hurt. I can't have my chip in when I go to the doctor, just in case he wants to scan me. I don't really know what bothers me more. The idea of not having my chip and being a normal, defenseless human or not being able to understand things. My chip has done so much for me. I have extreme dyslexia, so bad it is literally impossible for me to read. But my chip decodes the words for me so that I can read. Also I want to be able to understand the things the oncologist tells me. I am afraid that I won't be able to understand the things he is telling me without my chip.

"Come on, we're going to be late." Mr. Davenport says to me. I sigh and follow him out of the lab. The ride to the hospital is long, even though it is actually pretty short.

"Get out." He commands me when we get there. I don't dare to disobey. Ever since we found out about this whole cancer thing Mr. Davenport has been kinda mean to me. I don't really know why, and I am too afraid to ask.

"Chase Davenport." A monotone woman's voice calls about an hour later.

We were not late at all, we were very early. The lady makes me take off my shoes and get weighed. She then checks my height. We are then taken to a room and told to wait. We wait and wait and wait. If I had my chip I would know how long we have been waiting. If I had my chip I would look up interesting things on the internet to pass the time. I had my chip I would read a magazine. But I don't have my chip. So I can't tell the time, look up stuff on the internet or even read a magazine.

Knock knock, a man peeks into the room.

"Chase Davenport?" He asks.

"Yeah?" I answer. He smiles and walks into the room.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Marr." He tells me smiling. He is an Indian man and his accent is thick, but I can understand him. It's hard though, my dyslexia also effects my hearing. This is especially true for trying to understand accents.

"So, you have cancer." He says smiling through his thick accent.

"Ummm, yeah I do." I grunt. Why is this guy smiling? He looks like an idiot. Usually it's fun to make fun of people who are grinning idiots. But this is not true when the grinning idiot is your cancer doctor.

"Is this dad?" He asks gesturing over to Mr. Davenport. I nod.

"Yes."

"Let's get down to business, yes?" He continues to grin like an idiot.

"Yes, could you please tell us what Chase's treatment opinions are? Also what stage of cancer he has." Mr. Davenport asks him.

"Aaaahhhh, of course, of course." He bubbles, still smiling like an idiot. I think this guy might have a side job as a murder or child molester. His smile wouldn't be that bad if he had a couple more teeth. This guy has obviously smoked enough to make his teeth root out. His skin seems to be almost stained with smoke.

"We will start off with the stage and work our way from there." He pulls up a couple x-rays of my stomach and then turns off the light. Which makes me uncomfortable, probably because of my theory about his side job.

"This is a picture of your stomach." His smile fades to a frown. "This is a picture of a normal person's stomach." The difference is shocking. Mine looks red and the other looks pink.

"Whoa." Mr. Davenport breathes.

"Yes ,Yes!" Doctor Marr laughs. "You have very messed up tummy!"

"Gee, thanks." I mutter sarcastically.

"Back to business, back to business. It looks like you have Adenocarcinoma stomach cancer. Which means the cancer has started in the stomach lining and gland cells. This is the most common type of stomach cancer, about 95% of the time stomach cancer is Adenocarcinoma."

"How bad is his cancer, I mean what stage?" Mr. Davenport asks.

"Let me look." He says as he flips through a clip board of information.

"Ahh, yes here it is. You have Stage 3a Adenocarcinoma Stomach Cancer." He says smiling at his own knowledge.

"What does that mean?" I ask him. I hate asking that question. I am supposed to be the smartest person ever and I am asking what something means.

"Stage 3a is when the cancer has spread from the inside layers of the stomach lining to the outside layers. It has also spread to 5 or in your case 6 lymph nodes. Also there is cancer in the connective layer of your stomach. Although it has not spread to any other organs. You are very lucky my boy. Most people don't find out about their stomach cancer until they are in stage 4 and the cancer has spread to other organs." He informs us. Lucky? I don't think anything about this situation is lucky.

"What….." Mr. Davenport's voice cracks, "What is his chance of survival." Doctor Marr's face drops.

"When I comes to stomach cancer, things are tricky. Usually people don't make it pass one year. But in your case, things look a little brighter. Statistically you have about a 38% chance of survival, but since you are quit young I would say you are about 50-55% chance of survival." He smiles like he was supposed to just have made my day. But my heart sinks. For some reason I had it wired in my brain that I had a 100% chance of making it. Death was still not in my head as an option. Even after Adam had mentioned it, it still wasn't really a possibility until now.

"Chase!" Mr. Davenport snaps.

"humph wha-" I mumble. I didn't realize that I had been spacing out.

"Did you hear what Doctor Marr just told you?" He asks me.

"Ummm, no sorry I got distracted." I say honestly.

"Well don't do it again."

"Well like I was saying….." Doctor Marr continues. "It looks like for now we are going to have to start with chemotherapy for about 3 to 4 months. Then we will look into surgery. Then if all is going well, you should finish up with an amount of chemotherapy." He makes it all seems so simple. Like all you have to do is this, this and this. Then BAM you are a normal cancer free teen. Well, as normal as it gets when you spend your free time training for secret missions in your billionaire father/uncle's basement.

"When will he start chemotherapy?" Mr. Davenport asks him.

"That's where I am a little concerned. I would like to have him start as soon as possible, but I have a concern…." He trails.

"What is it?" I ask him proving to Mr. Davenport that I am paying attention. I could feel him eying me making sure I was paying attention.

"His weight." His Indian accent says flatly.

"What about it?" I question. There is nothing wrong with my weight.

"You are a strong 16 year old boy who is 5 foot 8 inches. You should weigh about 140 pounds. You weigh 103.48 pounds. That is about 37 pounds underweight. For the first time it occurs to me how skinny I am. It's not that I haven't noticed my cloths getting loser. It's just I thought it was because I was growing and it was making things looser around the waist.

"Oh." I mumble quietly.

"Before you start chemo I want you to gain at least 20 pounds."

"Yey right!" Mr. Davenport scoffs. "Good luck with that, we couldn't even get him to eat a piece of dry toast for breakfast this morning."

"That's perfectly normal. You are not eating because you are just going to get a stomach ache and throw it up. Also, you are almost never hungry, so you don't ever eat enough. That is normal, but what also is normal is having to gain your lost weight back."

"How I am supposed to gain weight? I can't keep anything down!" I ask him angrily.

"Artificial feeding through a PEG tube." He informs me. I don't need my chip to know what that is. It is when a doctor inserts a tube into your body and nutrients are pumped through a tube. You can either pump the food in during meal times or in some cases, you can have it pumping constantly. "You can either have it in your stomach or in your nose. I suggest putting it in your nose because it will only be temporary."

I try to find the words to argue, but how can I. That would practically be arguing him to let to die. Which is not what I want. I want to live.

2 hours later Mr. Davenport and I are walking back to the car. In my nose is a long PEG tube. It starts in my nose and goes down my esophagus all the way down to my stomach. It is uncomfortable and I hate it. Plus the thing is taped to my face and I have to carry this backpack with the artificial food inside. Since I am so much underweight and I need to gain a lot of weight really fast I have to have the tube plugged in constantly.

"I hate this." I grumble to Mr. Davenport.

"Then you should have eaten the toast."

**Sorry that was a boring chapter, but you have to establish the facts and plot before you can get to the cool stuff, which starts next chapter **

**Note: I don't know squat about cancer I did like an hour of research before typing this chapter if anyone knows anything about stomach cancer that I should know or if I have messed up a fact(s) then please tell me! I don't want to get my facts wrong that would be an insult to those who have lost their lives to stomach cancer or have had to battle it or are battling it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Good news! School is over and fan fiction is here! I will update a lot more now.**

Chapter 4

I take a deep breath and open the front door. Just like I expected, my family is anxiously waiting for my return. You know that awkward moment when you walk into a room and the conversation stops and everyone stares at you like you just killed a puppy?

"What's in your nose?" Adam asks bluntly a couple seconds later.

"Adam!" Bree scolds.

"What? I just asked a question."

"It's a PEG tube. I need it because I can't eat."

"Oh." Adam says. "Why can't you eat?" I put my head down and shake my head.

BRIIINNNGGGG, the bell dismissing us to lunch goes off.

I grab my stuff and walk out of Home Economics. Why they made a class where you eat food right before lunch, I don't know. It's been exactly a week from when I got this tube shoved up my nose and down my throat into my stomach. At first things were really ruff. The tube got caught in everything. Meals are awkward since I don't eat anything. I had to get a new back pack because the one with my 'food' in it had to be on my back at all times. Now I have this kid-ish backpack with wheels on it. But worst of all were the stares, whispers, jokes and funny looks at stores and from just random people. Have people never seen a kid with a tube up their nose?

"Looks good." Bree says sarcastically as she points to what is sitting in front of me. Instead of a pile of food, I have a pile of books.

"I hate no being able to eat." I whine.

"I'm sorry." she apologizes.

"Hey Chase, Big D texted me and told me to tell you to try and eat something today." Leo says as he sits down next to me.

"I don't think I remember how to eat."

"Then ask Adam for lessons." Leo says. Adam is walking over to our table with have his lunch already shoved up his face.

"I don't even have anything _to_ eat." I point out.

"Here." He puts a French fry on my math book. I look at it and feel sick to my stomach. Years of going on secret missions. But this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I pick it up with my fingers and hold it up to my face. I stare at it as if it will disappear if I just keep staring at it.

"That's what I said, but she just-"Leo is interrupted from his conversation by buzzing of his phone. He reaches down and looks at it. I can tell by his facial expression that this is going to take up the rest of the day.

"What's the damage?" I ask him.

"Underwater oil pipe has sprung a leak." He whispers even though there is no one at the table who doesn't already know what is going on.

"So, isn't that a government problem?" Bree asks him.

"Yes, but this is not really a leak. It's more of an explosion of oil. The whole pump has busted open and they can't get the scuba divers down there to fix it."

"Great, we haven't trained for underwater missions." I worry. The only underwater mission we have ever done was with Adam when that sub was about to meet the bottom of the ocean.

"We can worry about that later, right now we need to get you guys to the east coast." Leo tells us. He is so calm. We all get up and walk out of the lunch room.

"Where do you think you are going?" Principal Perry's asks. We all turn around and see the tiny large woman with her hands on her hips.

"Ohh you know… the east coast." Bree says nervously.

"What!"

"Yeah you know the restaurant down town. Our father wants us to meet him there for lunch." I lie.

"Oh really. I have been to every restaurant in this town and I have never heard of this East Coast." She questions.

"Well that's because it's brand new." Bree goes along with me.

"What type of restaurant is this?"

"It's ummm… It's a umm.."

"We don't have time for this! They have to do their bionic save the day thing." Leo tells her. UGH! Why did he have to tell her? Every time she finds out we are going on a mission she does the same thing. She-

"OOOHHHHH let me come! Let come! Let me come! Let me come!" She begs.

"NO!" We all say at the same time. Before she can respond we all grab onto Bree and she super speeds us home.

"Good, you got my mission alert." Mr. Davenport says when we enter the lab.

"How bad is it looking?" I ask him.

"Bad you guys need to get there fast." We all nod and run to our capsules to change into our mission suits. The machine quickly changes us and I am in and out in seconds. I make sure to take off the end of the PEG tube so it won't' get in the way during the mission.

"Are you going to let Chase come on this?" Adam asks him. _Shut up Adam! _Mr. Davenport looks up from the computer and stares at me like he just remember that I have a tube in my head.

"I'll be find Adam."

"No, Adam is right. You are not going on this Chase." Mr. Davenport says.

"WHAT, you have to let me go. No one else knows how to fix a broken oil pipe!" I remind him.

"I don't care, you are not going on this mission."

"Yes I am."

"No you are not."

"I have to."

"No you don't."

"Mr. Davenport I _have_ to go on the mission. No one else can fix that pipe and if the pipe isn't fixed soon a lot of animals with die."

The room is dead silence for a couple seconds. I stare intently at him and he stares just as hard back. You can feel the tension in the air.

"Fine." I smile and the 3 of us run out the door and grab onto Bree who takes us to the mission sight.

"Ready?" I ask them.

We have just finished devising a plan to fix the oil pipe. Adam and I are going to go down to fix the pipe. And Bree stays above water and makes sure no one tires to go and fix it while we are fixing it. I pull on a scuba suit. When I am ready I jump onto Adam's back and he takes me down to the pipe. Since he can breathe underwater he doesn't need a scuba diving suit.

The deeper and deeper Adam swims the more and more water pressure there is. The deeper we get the more my stomach is crying out. It feels like someone has stabbed a knife underneath my ribs. I want to tell Adam to stop and take me back up to the surface, but if I do that lots of animals will die. People might even die. People will lose their jobs. I have to suck it up and push through.

Finally, we are at the pipe. Man I feel like I am about to pass out. It looks like someone took out the bolts and pulled the two ends of the pipe away from each other. To fix it, Adam is going to have to pull the two ends of the pipe back together while I put the bolts back on. I point to the pipes to show Adam what he needs to do, he nods.

He swims to the pipe and starts to pull them together. While he struggles with that, I look for the bolts. Great, just my luck, they are not here. They are probably in the bottom of the ocean somewhere. Okay, I'll have to improvise. I could have Adam weld the two ends together, but I don't think he lasers will work underwater. I know, I can simply use my magnetism app to attract the bolt from where ever they are into the palm of my hand. Yes! That should work. I focus my mind and turn on the app. I can feel the attraction of the bolt starting to come toward me. RRRRAAAWWW- a horrible screeching sound fills my hyper- sensitive bionic ears. All the medal in the area is flying toward me. Oil and scraps of medal fill the nearby water. Before I can even remember what is going on, a piece of medal collides with my body. Following pain is, darkness.

"Chase?" A distant voice says.

"Chase."

"CHASE!" I snap awake. I am lying on my back, looking down at me are Adam and Bree.

"Are you okay?" Bree asks. She looks really worried, why is she worried? Oh yeah, that's right the little explosion thing. Oh no! I sit up. I am on the beach. The whole ocean as far as I can see is a dark gray.

"What have I done?" I stand up and see what my mistake has caused. Already dead fish float up to the surface and lie on the beach. People are crying a little ways away because their beloved beach has been ruined.

"Chase, it's not your fault." Bree assures me.

"Yes it is and you know it is. Quit trying to make me feel better!" I snap. A hurt look comes across her face.

"Let's just go home." Adam says quietly.

"What were you thinking?" Mr. Davenport yells at me the second we walk into the lab.

"I know, I messed up."

"I know what you were thinking. You were thinking that you could handle this mission all by yourself. Without any help. You just had to prove to me that you could still handle missions. Well you can't." he accuses.

"That's not true!" I shoot back. How could he think that?

"You knew perfectly well all you had to do was have Adam pull the pipes together and then weld them back together. But no you had to try and fix it the hard way. Well now look at what you have done. Millions of marine life is dead and thousands of people are going to lose their jobs all because of you. I knew I shouldn't have let go on that mission."

"What! First of all I didn't think Adam's eye lasers would work underwater. Second of all, my mistake today had nothing to do with my current physical health!" I inform him.

"You know what? It doesn't even matter. You are off the team. No more missions, no more training and no more chip!"

"What! You can't do that!" My voice cracks. A lump forms in my throat. My eyes fill with tears. I am being pushed into my capsule. I want to fight back, but I don't know how. I hear my capsule door shut. My chip is removed, but I barely notice the sting. I am no longer bionic, I am just a regular teenage boy.

**I told you the action was starting in the next chapter**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Once the Mr. Davenport is out of the Lab, I get out of my capsule.

"Chase…." Bree tails. She walks over to me and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"What…. I mean." I can hardly breathe the lump in my throat is so big.

"I'm really sorry man." Adam says softly. I nod and sit down in the middle of the floor.

"I can't believe Big D just did that. I mean I get it that you blew it and I mean really blew it.

But-"

"LEO!" Bree scolds him. "You're not helping."

"Sorry" he mutters.

"I don't have my chip." I say slowly as the realization sinks in.

I'm no longer smart. I can no longer go on missions. I can no longer do anything. Without my chip I'm not the mission leader. Without my chip can't even read. Without my chip, I am worthless.

"Hey buddy." Adam says softly as he bends down next to me. "How 'bout you get some sleep?"

I look up at him. For the first time I notice how bad he looks. There are cuts and bruises all over his body. He looks so tired. I allow him to take me over to my capsule and plug the PEG tube back into me. After about 10 minutes of standing in my capsule I realize something, I can't sleep. It's not that I don't want to or that I'm not tired. It's just that I can't. I can't sleep standing up unless I have my chip. I open my eyes and look out my capsule. Adam is sleeping in his capsule and Leo and Bree are playing cards. I open my door and walk out.

"What's wrong Chase?" Bree asks me.

"I can't sleep standing up without my chip." I inform them.

"Oh, then what are you going to do?" Leo asks me.

"I guess I can sleep on the couch." I mumble.

Then I head up stairs. Luckily Mr. Davenport isn't up there. I'm really not in the mood to see him. When I get upstairs I plop down on the couch and try to sleep. Sleeping lying down is so different compared to sleeping standing, but finally I do fall asleep.

"Wake up Chase." Mr. Davenport's voice says a couple hours later. My eyes flutter open. In front of me is Mr. Davenport.

"What?" I snap. He throws a flyer on me. I pick it up to read it. But then I realize, I can't.

"Mr. Davenport, I can't read this. Severe dyslexia, remember?" He looks a little embarrassed when he realizes his mistake.

"Sorry." He mutters. "It says-

_Mission Creek Community Support Group_

_For Teens who are suffering from Cancer_

_Location: Mission Creek Community Center_

_When: Every Tuesday_

_Time: From 8 to 9 PM_

_Snacks will be provided "_

"So?" I ask him.

"So, you're going." He says. I open my mouth to argue, but it is too late. He has already left the room. I look at the clock. Just my luck, its digital and I can't read it. Stupid Davenport for taking out my chip. Stupid dyslexia. Stupid support group. I get up and walk down to the lab to change out of my mission suit, which for some reason I am still in.

"Hey Chase, feeling better?" Bree asks me.

"No." I grumble as I walk to my capsule to change. What do you where to something like this? I just have the machine put on jeans and a T-shirt.

"Where are you going?" Leo asks me.

"Good question." I say as I walk out of the lab.

"Why do I have to go to this?" I ask Mr. Davenport when we pull up to the community center. We hadn't said a word to each other the whole ride here.

"Because, since you no longer have other obligations you can do things like this. Plus, I think it will be good for you." He says as he unlocks the door signaling me to get out.

Mission Creek is a nice town. It has a rich neighborhood and a richer neighborhood. So naturally you would think the things around community would be nice. Like the parks, the malls, and of course the community center. But, it's not that way. The park is dangerous to go to by yourself. The mall is basically just the headquarters for a red light district and the community center is basically just a home for hobos. So being there by myself makes me a little scared, especially since I no longer have my chip.

"Are you looking for the Support Group?" A nasal young man asks me.

"Yeah, what gave it away?" I joke motioning to my PEG tube.

"The flyer." He says not getting the joke. I still have the flyer in my hand, but I don't know why. It's not like it is going to help me at all.

"So, where is it?" I ask him.

"It's down the hall, first door on the left." I nod and follow his instructions. When I walk in the room a bunch of woman stare at me. All the woman are… pregnant.

"Are you here for the birthing class?" A lady asks me. Oh crap, I turned right instead of left, stupid dyslexia.

"No." I squeak and I run across the hall to the correct room.

When I run into the room I feel like I have just ran into death's waiting room. There are about 10 teens and a couple adults. Some people you can tell have cancer. Their faces are swollen from the steroids and they have bald, balding or at one point were bald heads. Some people, like me, are hooked up to machines. Others are missing limps. But then there are some people who just look like regular everyday teens. There is food laid out on the back table. Which looks really good, but I don't dare think about eating any of it. In the middle of the room there are chairs set up into a circle. I walk over and sit in one.

"You have cool hair." I jump at the loud voice. I turn and see a girl plop down in the seat next to me.

"Ummm thanks." I mutter.

I turn the other direction avoiding eye contact with her. I don't really feel like talking to anyone. I guess she got the message, because she doesn't attempt talk to me anymore.

"Alright everyone, why don't we get started." A nasal voice says. It's the same guy who told me how to get hear.

"It seems like we have a new member." He says looking at me. I smile uncomfortably. "So, how about we start off with introducing ourselves. Say your first name. Then say your type of cancer. Then your favorite food and finally your age. I'll start. My name is Even. I had breast cancer and my favorite food is hamburgers and I am 37 years old."

A man with breast cancer… is that even possible? People follow him. Kevin, bone cancer, strawberries, 12. Anne, thyroid, candy, 9 years old. Jake, lung cancer, beer, 18 years old. Judging by his yellow finger nails and trashy look and smoky smell, I'm not surprised that he has lung cancer. Hallie, bone cancer, noodles, 16 years of age and so on. Till it's the girl next to me turn.

"Hi, I'm Jonah. I've got brain cancer and I love to eat watermelon. Oh and I'm 15 years old." She says smiling.

"I'm Chase. I've got stomach cancer, so I don't actually really like food right now." I grunt. Evan is smiling at me like I forgot something.

"How old are you?" He asks me.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'm 16." Everyone else finishes. Oliver, Jessica, Tabitha. Liver, eye, throat. Pizza, brownies, cookies. 12, 19, 17. I hate this. The only one having fun is no one. The whole meeting consists of people telling their sob stories. Not really something I want to hear about right now.

"Hey." Jonah whispers to me. I look over at her. She is not looking at me.

"What?" I whisper out of the corner of my mouth.

"What some gum?" She says. I look down at her hand. It has a piece of gum in it. I grab it and drop it into my mouth.

"Thanks" I mutter. She nods slightly. I think about her for the rest of the meeting. Why did she give me a piece of gum? What do I say to her once the meeting gets out? Should I say something to her, like right now? Should I give her some gum next week? I am coming back next week?

"Alright you crazy party people." Even's nasal voice snorts. "This was a great week. I hope to see you all back next week." Somehow I don't think that meant 'I hope you all decide to come to this meeting next week'. I think I means 'I hope you are all still alive next week'.

"So, did you like it?" Jonah asks me. Right when the meeting gets out.

"Yeah." I say awkwardly.

"Really? I hate it, only reason I come is for the free food." She says honestly.

"Oh..kay."

"What's wrong with your face?" I assume she means the tube shoved up my nose.

"It's called a PEG tube. I need it because-"

"No not that. I mean the cuts and bruises. They look really new." I got to think of a lie….

"I got in a fist fight with a grizzly bear." Wow, that was the worst lie ever told.

"Ha ha. I would really like to meet this-"She stops what she is saying and starts swatting her ear like something was crawling inside it. She looks like she is in pain.

"Are you okay?" I almost yell. She nods while swatting her ear. Finally after a couple more seconds she stops and relaxes.

"Sorry, sometimes my brain thinks there is something on me when there isn't. Side effect of the cancer." She explains. "So you can't eat. That sucks." I smile. I think I am going to like her.

**In case some of you haven't noticed, I'm am getting some of my ideas from The Fault in Our Stars. But don't worry I'm not going to have the same ending. And I don't really plan on using any more of the plot form that book.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"So what school do you go to?" I ask Jonah. We are both sitting outside the community center waiting for our parents to pick us up.

"I'm homeschooled." She says. "What about you?"

"I go to Mission Creek High." I tell her.

"Cool." A couple seconds go by without anyone saying anything. This is awkward.

"So you never told me where you got all those cuts." She points out.

"Yes I did. I told you I got in a fist fight with a grizzly bear."

"Very funny, but seriously what did you do?"

"Why are you so interested? Are you scared I'm in a gang or something?"

"I'm not interested, I just want the truth."

"The truth?"

"Yes the truth."

"Fine, here's the truth. My super human siblings and I were in an underwater explosion a couple hours ago while trying to fix a broken oil pipe." I tell her smiling.

"Really?" She smiles.

"Really, well actually only my brother and I were in the explosion. My sister was waiting on the beach for us." I correct myself.

"I think I am going to believe your grizzly bear story now." She laughs. It's funny, she thinks I am joking. Just then Mr. Davenport drives up.

"Umm, my rides here." I say awkwardly. I really don't want to leave her.

"Oh umm, alright see you next week." She says.

"Hey, can I have your number?" I ask her. She smiles and nods. I hand her my phone and she puts herself in my contacts.

"Chase, hurry up." Mr. Davenport cries out.

"Coming!"

Jonah finishes and hands me back my phone.

"See ya."

"See ya." I run to Mr. Davenport's car and jump in.

"Who was that?" He asks.

"Jonah." I say flatly.

"Who is she?" He asks.

"A girl who I met at the support group."

"Are you chewing gum?" He asks me.

"Yeah, Jonah gave it to me."

"So you can chew gum and you are just fine. But you can't even eat one little French fry?"

"You don't swallow gum!" I protest.

"You get the flavor out of it."

"So?"

"So that's the same thing as food!"

I want to yell back at him, but it will only make things worse. We don't talk the rest of the way home. When we get home I go straight to the lab where the others are getting ready for bed.

"Hey Chase, how did your support group go?" Bree asks.

"Yeah, did you get good support… and stuff?" Adam asks. For the first time I realize how much I really don't like the sound of 'Support Group".

"Can we just call it 'The Meeting'?" I ask them.

"Sure."

"Alright."

"Anyway, how did it go?" Bree asks.

"Fine, the meeting sucked. But I meet this girl named Jonah." I tell them smiling when I say Jonah's name.

"You talked to a girl who's not me or Tasha?" Bree jeers.

"Yes, and she gave me her number." I boast. I can get girls to. Bree puts her hands on her hips and cocks her head.

"Alright, I _asked_ for her number and she gave it to me." I mumble.

"Uh-huh. That's what I though."

"Wait, isn't Jonah a boy's name?" Adam asks.

"Yeah, so?"

"Doesn't that make her a boy? So really, Chase got a number from a boy, not a girl." Adam says smiling.

"No, just because she has a boy's name doesn't make her a boy." I tell him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you really sure?"

"Yep."

"Are you really super sure?"

"YES. Adam I positive."

"About what?"

"About Jonah being a g-, oh never mind."

"Never mind what?" Adam asks seriously.

"I think Adam got a concussion from that last mission." I tell Bree.

"That would make sense. He has been acting dumb all right. Well, dumber anyway."

"Hey Chase! When did you get here?" Adam asks me loudly.

"Come on buddy, I think you need to sleep." I tell him as I lead him to his capsule.

The next morning comes quickly.

"Chase!" I jump at Bree's voice. She is in my room. Well the guest bedroom upstairs. I still don't have my chip, so I can't sleep standing up.

"What?"

"Come on we are going to be late for school." She tells me. I quickly change and run down stairs.

"Morning Chase." Tasha eyes me like I am about to explode.

"Morning." I say quickly. When I walk by the counter my tube gets suck on the towel rack.

"Stupid tube." I growl. Once I get it free I walk toward the front door.

"Where do you think you are going?" Mr. Davenport asks me. I stop and stare at him.

"Schoooolll." I say carefully.

"No you're not." He says sternly.

"What? Why not?" I ask defensively.

"Because you have a doctor's appointment." He reminds me. I completely forgot about it. Doctor Mar wants me to check with him weekly to make sure I am gaining weight and that the cancer isn't spreading.

"Oh right, I forgot." I mumble and I walk toward the car.

The ride is, well the same. Tense and boring, all I want is to be normal. But not have a girlfriend and be on the football team normal. I want what I had just 2 weeks earlier. No cancer, no doctor appointments, no tube shoved up my nose and down my throat and most of all, I WANT MY CHIP BACK!

"Hello my young cancerous friend!" Doctor Mar says to me when he walks into the room we are waiting for him in. And of course, he is smiling like an idiot.

"Hi." I mutter.

"How are you?" He asks. You tell me, you are the one in charge of my life. If you give me some bad treatments than, bam, I'm six feet under the ground.

"Chase is a little grumpy right now." Mr. Davenport answers for me.

"Well enough with the personal talk, huh? Ha ha, you chatty Katies." He throws his head back and laughs at his own misquoted phrase. "Chase you have gained a tremendous amount of weight, 16.49 pounds. Now I know I said it had to be 20 pounds before I let you start with chemotherapy. But I am a little worried to wait any longer, I don't want it to spread anymore."

"What are you saying?" I ask.

"I want you to start the chemotherapy this week." He says.

"When this week?" I ask.

"I would like to have you back her in 3 days. We will meet with the doctors who are in charge of your treatment." He explains.

"I thought you were the one in charge of my treatment?" I ask.

"I am, but there are others who are also in charge. I am just your head doctor." He explains. I nod, this guy still makes me uncomfortable.

"Before you go I want to give Chase these pills." He says to Mr. Davenport. He scribbles something onto a piece of paper.

"What are they?" I ask.

"Oh, they are steroids to help your body start fighting off the cancer by itself." He says.

"I'm going to be on steroids? Maybe I'll be about to beat Adam in combat train- err… arm wrestling." I almost said combat training. I can feel Mr. Davenport's eyes melting into my soul.

"Who is this Adem?" He asks, saying Adam's name wrong.

"My older brother." I explain.

"You have sibling?" He asks me.

"Yeah, two brothers and a sister." I tell him.

"This must be hard on them." He says

"Ummm… yeah, I guess I haven't really thought of that. I mean there were a couple times in the beginning."

"I think it's time for us to go. I have a meeting to get to and Chase really shouldn't be missing anymore school." Mr. Davenport says.

"That reminds me. When you come here next we need to talk about Chase's school. Once he starts chemotherapy school is going to be extremely difficult for him." He tells Mr. Davenport. Mr. Davenport nods and we walk out of the office.

"May be I'll be able to beat Adam in combat train- errr arm wrestling, really Chase?" He mocks me once we get into the car. "Do you want to be exposed?"

"I'm sorry!" I say defensively. "I covered it up, didn't I?" I ask him.

"Mhhh.." He grumbles.

I wait for the lecture, but it doesn't come. I wish it would have though, because that means he is disappointed in me. I don't like disappointing Mr. Davenport, and for some reason I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. The whole ride to school all I can think about is what Dr. Mar said about my siblings. How are they doing? I know how Bree took it and she seems to be doing much better. But she is a girl and will tell you how she feels. But Leo and Adam are different stories. They won't tell me if something is bothering them. I talked to Adam about it a little bit, but not a whole bunch. And I haven't even said anything to Leo at this whole situation. And what about Tasha, she has been acting a little weird since we found out. I'm going to talk to them.

**Sorry if I got any medical terms wrong**


	7. Chapter 7

**I want to thank all of you for the reviews. I got 14 reviews that last chapter… that's awesome! THANK YOU SO MUCH**

Chapter 7

When I walked into school it was lunch time, so I just went and looked for Adam, Bree and Leo. Bree and Leo are in our regular table, but there is no Adam.

"Hey guys, where's Adam?" I ask them.

"I donno, I think he is…. Umm actually, where is Adam?" Leo says.

"I don't know. Have you check the vending machine?" Bree asks.

"No, I'm going to go find him." I tell them.

I walk around to the vending machine, he's not there. I can just look for him using my Override App and- right no chip. I can just text him. I grab my phone out of my pocket. I pull up my contacts and look for his number. I don't recognize any of these numbers. Oh right, dyslexia, can't read. I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way.

"ADAM!" I call. I walk down the halls calling his name.

"Chase?" Adam groans. I turn around and see him sitting on the floor next to some lockers.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask him.

"My head hurts." I forgot about his concussion.

"Right, let's go to the nurse." I help him up and lead him to the nurse's office.

"Hello Chase, what can I do for you?" She asks me. I've had to spend some time in here lately because of this stupid tube in my head.

"My brother might have a concussion. I was wondering if you could help us with that."

"Certainly, here Adam lie down on the cot." He collapse onto the cot. She looks at him for a couple minutes and then turns to me.

"He defiantly does, it doesn't look to bad though. Can I ask how he got it?" Got to think of a lie. It has to be a good one, you can't say a grizzly bear again…

"He fell down the wooden stairs at home." That was bad.

"I see, what about those cuts and bruises, on both of you." She asks.

"We were pulling out rose bushes and it didn't go to well." That was a much better lie.

"Alright, tell me if he gets worse." She says finally believing the lie. She gives Adam an ice pack and sends us back to lunch.

"Chase, I don't feel too good." He looks like he is about to- yep, that. Barf flies out of his mouth. Luckily none of it lands on him or me.

"Sorry." He groans.

"That's okay buddy, let's just leave before anyone sees it was you and makes us clean it up." I whisper to him even though we are alone.

I drag him down the hall to theater. There's no class in here today. I let him lie down on the back row of chairs. He instantly falls asleep. I know I should go back to lunch, but I can't leave him looking like this. Soon lunch is over and I have to get back to class.

"Adam, I'm going back to class." I whisper to him.

"Okay, where were you all day?" He asks me.

"The doctor's." I say.

"Why?" He asks. Maybe his concussion is worse than we though.

"Because the doctor wanted to make sure I am gaining weight." I explain. I get up to walk away.

"Don't go." He begs. I don't want to leave him, he has always been there for me.

"I have to go. Mr. Davenport doesn't want me to miss anymore school." I get up and walk away before he can say another word.

Health class is boring. Usually it is at least endurable, but not today. I can't read the board or book or even the questions on the quiz. I miss my chip.

"Mr. Davenport, am I interrupting your sleep schedule?" Mr. Brant asks me.

"No!" I jump.

I was dozing off. I guess I can see why Adam hates school much. When you don't understand what is going on it is hard to like it. The rest of health class I fight my body to stay awake. Finally the class gets out. I think I might have actually unlearned something. There's no point in even trying to go to Spanish. I can't understand English, no way will I be able to understand Spanish. I go back to the theater.

"Hey." I say to Adam. He is still lying on the chairs, but is awake.

"I thought you had to go to class."

"You're more important."

"You can't read the board without your chip, can you?"

"No I can't, but you are still more important." I tell him. "How are you doing with this?"

"Well my head hurts, but I don't feel like puking anymore."

"No not the concussion. I am just wondering how you are going with the whole cancer thing."

"Why are you asking me? I'm not the one with cancer, you are."

"I am just wondering."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He is hiding something, I know it.

"Adam, you can tell me."

"It's just… I mean…" He struggles. "What are we supposed to do? You know what I mean? What are we supposed to do if you die? What about missions now? You can't go on them anymore and we can't do them without you." I didn't realize how upset he was about this, I should have asked him how he was feeling sooner.

"I… I don't know Adam. I guess just go on with your life."

"Just go on with my life? How can I do that? You and Bree are my world. You guys are the only ones who I'll always have. It's always been us. The 3 musketeers. You can't have the 3 musketeers with only two people!"

"I'm sorry Adam, I don't know what to tell you."

"Who else will help me pull pranks on Bree? Leo, he stinks at pranks, and I can't do it by myself. I'll mess it up. Who else am I going to throw? I'm not allowed to throw Leo anymore and I don't want to throw Bree. Who is going to tell us what to do on missions? Bree and I can't come up with the mission plans. Who is going to help me with my homework? I don't do it very often, but when I do you are the only one that can explain so I can understand it. And who else is going to notice when I am hurt? Bree and Leo didn't think of coming to check on me!" He looks like he is about to cry. Adam doesn't cry, ever.

"I'm sorry I don't know! Maybe Leo can learn how to do pranks, and you can throw Leo when Mr. Davenport isn't looking. You and Bree can learn how to make mission plans, and you can go to help class for homework help."

"But who else is going to do stuff with me?" He asks me. This time I actually have an answer for him.

"What if we spend so much time together right now that you will have enough to last a life time. So if I don't make it through this you won't even miss me." This makes him a little happier.

"You can't die Chase." He says seriously.

"What are you two doing in here?" Principal Perry barks.

"We were just talking." I say. Adam and I get up and head to class.

**Next Chapter I will tell you why Mr. Davenport is being such a jerk… there is a point to it, I swear!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I want to talk all of you for the reviews!**

Chapter 8

The rest of the day went by painfully slow. Can't read, got it, don't know what that big word means, great thanks. I don't know the answer, don't rub it in! Finally, school is over and the four of us meet by the flag pole in front of the school.

"How you feeling?" I ask Adam.

"About what, the concussion or the-"

"Concussion."

"A little better, but I still can't wait to get home and take a nap." I nod and we start home.

"Can't you just super speed us home?" Leo whines.

"No, there are people here." She tells him.

"I don't see the problem."

"Do you want us to be exposed?" I ask him.

"It's not like you 3 don't use your abilities at school all the time anyway."

"We do not!" Adam, Bree and I say simultaneously.

"Mmmhhh."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bree asks him.

"You guys use your bionics at school so much don't know how you are still here and not in a government lab somewhere in North Dakota."

"Leo that's crazy, North Dakota isn't a real place." Adam laughs. When we get home Leo goes and turns on his games and Bree jumps on the couch and whips out her phone. Adam and I go straight to the lab.

"Hi Mr. Davenport!" I cheerfully. He is working on an invention.

"Hi guys." He says. He is obviously deep in thought. Adam doesn't even bother to say anything to him, he just drops his stuff on the floor and goes to his capsule. I walk over to Mr. Davenport.

"Can I help you?" I ask him. Usually Mr. Davenport lets me help him with his inventions.

"No."

"Can I watch you?" I ask.

"Fine."

Honestly not knowing what is going on makes this really boring, but Mr. Davenport has been mad at me lately so I want to try to make things better.

"So what is this going to do?" I ask a little too loudly. He jumps at my voice and gets zapped with a burst of electricity.

"Chase!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Why don't you just go upstairs and watch T.V.?" He snaps.

"But I want to watch you, I like watching you." I beg.

"No, just go upstairs. Haven't you messed up enough stuff?" He barks.

That breaks me. I have tried so hard to be like the Chase I was before. The smart, nerdy one that never made mistakes. The Chase Mr. Davenport loved. Not the person I am now. The Chase that makes mistakes and isn't smart or nerdy.

"What do you mean by 'haven't you messed up enough stuff?' I didn't mess up your invention, you just got shocked. Unless, of course, you aren't talking about just now. You are talking about the oil pump? I already said I was sorry like a billion times. It wasn't a mission we had prepared or trained for. I know that is no excuse for my mistake, but we can't fix it know. We mess up missions sometimes, it happens. We might be bionic, but we are still human. We still make mistakes like everyone else." I stare at him. He stares at me. The tension between us is high.

"It's not like that Chase." He mumbles.

"Than what is it like? Please enlighten me Mr. Davenport. What horrible thing have done that I haven't already said?" I'm practically yelling by now.

"Chase.." Is he going to "You have to make it." Yep, he is crying.

"Is that what this about, the cancer?" I ask him.

"Chase you are my son. I raised you to me a super human and my successor. In the very, very, very far future when I meet my maker. You are supposed to get my company. Not Adam, he couldn't run a billion dollar company if it came with an instruction manual. Not Bree, she wouldn't want that life. Not Leo, he would run the company into the ground before I got into the ground. You Chase, you are my son and my successor and can't see you go. Parents are supposed to bury their children." He sobs.

"If the mission isn't what's been bothering you, when why have you been so mean to me lately?" I ask.

"I don't know. I guess I was trying to look like this wasn't bothering me, but it is. Chase this is hard to watch. I don't think you know how obvious it is that you are hurting."

"I'm sorry. I don't know how upset you were. But why did you take my chip?" I ask him.

"Honestly, I wasn't that upset about the failed mission. I kinda saw it coming. I just didn't want to see you go on another mission because of the chance that you might get hurt.." He sniffs. A lump forms in my throat.

"Mr. Davenport, can I tell you something." I squeak.

"Yeah."

"I'm scared to." Oh man, I'm crying, but I don't care.

"What?"

"I hurt a ton right now, and I know that it is going to get worse. I'm scared to die, I'm scared to start Chemo. What if this treatment doesn't work? What if… what if-"

"I know Chase, I know!" We grab onto each other and slide onto the ground, crying.

"What if it spreads? Then I am dead for sure." I cry.

"I know, I'm sorry Chase. You don't know how many times I have prayed for it to me instead of you. I would do anything for this to be me instead of you." He are still hugging each other and crying on the ground.

"I feel like a teen age girl at a slumber party." I say noticing how ridiculous we must look.

"Me too." We both sit in silence for a while trying to calm ourselves down, not once do we let go of each other.

"Chase.." He says after a couple minutes.

"Yeah Mr. Davenport."

"I love you, don't ever forget that."

"I love you too Mr. Davenport." I say. I am so tired. I let go of Mr. Davenport and slide my head down to his lap. He wraps his arms around me and soon my eyes get heavy and soon I am asleep in his arms.

When I wake up I am in my capsule. Wait, why I am in my capsule. Lines appear in front of my eyes telling me the amount of force needed to open the capsule door. MY CHIP IS BACK! The lab is empty. Not even Adam is in his capsule. It must be dinner time. I walk out and head up stairs. For some reason I feel like puking. It's probably nothing.

"Look who's alive!" Eddie jeers when I walk into the kitchen.

"Have a nice nap?" Bree asks.

"Yep." I say smiling. I can't stop smiling.

"What are you so happy about?" Adam asks.

"Mr. Davenport gave me my chip back." Everyone cheers.

"Why did you give him his chip back?" Adam asks.

"I figure as long as he doesn't go on missions, he can have his chip." He says.

"Here, before you get to happy, take these." Tasha says to me. She hands me a couple pills. They are the steroids Dr. Mar gave me.

"Can he even kept those down?" Bree asks.

"He's going to have to." Tasha says. I pick them up and stare at them. My chip tells me the type of pill they are how may milligrams they are.

"I'm guessing there is no way to put these in here." I shake the bag on my back that contains all the food being pumped into in me through the tube that is in my head.

"Nope." Tasha says. I take a deep breath and put them in my mouth and swallow them. It was incredibly hard to get them to go down my dry throat.

"Did you just take them without any water?" She asks me.

"Yeah, how else am I supposed to take them?"

"Donald, have you never given these kids vitamins before?" She asks him.

"Well no, but they are genetically engineered they shouldn't need any vitamins." He says.

"Donald, all kids need vitamins, super human or not super human." She instructs him. "Chase when you take pills you are supposed to take them with water or something else to drink. It makes them easier to swallow."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Hey mom, I was wondering what you thought about painting my room?" Leo asks.

"Sure sweetie we can do that. Why do you want to paint your room?" She asks him.

"Oh no reason…"

"What did you do?" Mr. Davenport asks him.

"Nothing… I just want to paint my room so I can, you know, cover the burn marks on my wall." He mumbles quickly.

"What!" Tasha and Mr. Davenport yell.

"It's not that bad, really!" Tasha gets up and grabs Leo's arm. Then the three of them march to Leo's room. Leaving Adam, Bree and me alone.

"So how was your heart to heart with Davenport?" Bree pokes.

"Fine, how was your flirting, I mean talk with Owen?" I throw back. She and Owen were 'talking' after lunch.

"So Chase," Adam says changing the subject. "Do you want to do something together after dinner?"

"I would love to, but I think you need to get your head checked. You still look awful." I tell him.

"Can we at least watch a movie?" He asks.

"Sure." We walk over to the couch and turn on a movie.

**Still mad at Mr. Davenport? **

**Anything you would like to see from me?**

**So half way through this Chapter I realized I made a mistake in the last chapter. I had Chase wake up in his capsule that moring eventhough he didn't have his chip. So I went back and change chapter 6 so that he woke up in the guest bedroom instead of his capsule. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Adam falls asleep about 10 minutes into the movie. So, I just turn off the T.V. This movie is boring anyway. I wonder what Bree is up to. I turn around and see she is not in the room. She's probably in the lab painting her nails and crying over some boy. I don't want to leave Adam because we are supposed to be doing stuff together. I guess I can text Jonah. I whip out my phone and scroll down to her number.

_Hey, it's me Chase. What are you up to?_

It takes her about a minute to respond.

Chase? I don't think I know of any Chases.

Well, that hurts a little.

_I'm the boy from Support Group._

I know I know, I was just kidding. I remember you. How's the grizzly bear?

_He's fine. He's fine, but is still a little sore from our fist fight._

This is kinda out of the blue, but do you want to hang out some time? I'm going to the mall next week and if you want you can join me.

A girl just asked me to hang out with her! That's never happens. What do I do, what do I say?

_Yeah sure._

Cool, I have to go, my mom is calling me to set up for dinner.

I just talked to a girl without drooling and saying something totally stupid. Who knew I had it in me? I mean I didn't actually talk, talk to her, but it still counts! I turn the T.V. back on and watch the boring movie. Got it good guy v. bad guy. The good guy wins and gets the girl. I wish I happened that way in real life.

Dear Hollywood,

I would like to inform you that all you cheesy action movies are devastatingly inaccurate. The same thing always happens. The good guy wins and rides off into the sunset with a girl. Well as an actually super hero I would like to ask you to please write a more realistic plot line and stop romanticizing the super hero life style. I would like to inform you that this life is not easy. Years and years of training, isolation from the outside world, being bullied when you know that you can fight back but if you do your secret will be exposed and constantly risking your life for the fate of humanity and never receiving a simple thank you. Also the good guys doesn't always win and you never, ever do they get the girl.

-Sincerely

A super hero

Sometimes a boy can only dream. Anyway, I think it's time for bed. I am so, so tired. I turn off the T.V. and drag Adam down to the lab. There I find Bree doing her homework. Not painting her nails and crying over some boy, bummer.

"Hey, we're going to bed." I tell her.

"This early?"

"Well Adam's head is still bothering him and I am exhausted." I explain. She nods and helps me take Adam to his capsule.

"Hey Chase?" Adam mumbles.

"Yeah?"

"Was the movie any good?"

"It sure was." I lie. He smiles and closes his eyes. I really need to work on this lying problem.

"Night Bree." I call out as I step into my capsule.

"Night." She calls back.

"Chase, it's just a needle. You have had them injected into you before." Mr. Davenport says to me a couple days later. Today I get my first round of chemotherapy. Since I got my chip back I've been doing a ton of research on stomach cancer and chemotherapy. Which I now regret, because now I am scared.

"It's not the needle that scares me… it's the side effects off the chemo I am scared of." I explain to him.

"Chase, if you want to get better you are going to have to deal with a couple side effects." Mr. Davenport says.

"Fine." I groan and Dr. Mar sticks the needle into my arm. It takes about 15 minutes for all the clear liquid to be pumped into my arm. I feels like all the blood cells in my arm are being smashed together.

"So, once a week for the next 7 weeks we will give him a round of chemotherapy. Then we will talk about surgery options." Dr. Mar says smiling. This guy needs to take a long walk off a short prier.

"Alright, can we go?" Mr. Davenport asks him.

"Not quite yet, there is still one more matter to discuss, Chase's schooling." He says.

"Alright, what about it?" Mr. Davenport asks.

"I need you to understand that chemotherapy and surgery take a lot out of a person." He explains. "Right now it is the last week of November. There will be 7 weeks of treatment. Then a week without, then surgery the next week. So right now we are at 9 weeks. Then we have the last round of chemotherapy which will take at least 7 more weeks. Now we are at 16 weeks, then you have to add the week of recovery from the surgery and an extra two weeks in case something pops up and we get off schedule. Now we are at 19 weeks. That takes him to about the end of the school year."

"What are you saying?" Mr. Davenport asks. By now the drugs have really kicked in and I am exhausted. I'm struggling to stay awake. Got to fight it, got to fight it!

"What I am saying is that I highly suggest that-" Alright, how much will one little nap really hurt?

When I wake up I am in my capsule. So much for a 'little' nap. The weird thing is am I leaning against my capsule, that's not normal. I wonder what time it is. I check on my chip, which has been put back in my neck since I had to take it out for the appointment. Adam and Bree are playing ping pong on the cyber desk.

"Hey guys." I say. My voice is horse and hushed.

"Hi Chase." Bree says as she hits the incoming ball.

"Hey." Adam says back as he returns the ball to Bree.

"How are you feeling?" Bree asks as she smacks the ball.

"Tired, but other than that fine." I answer after clearing my throat.

"Mr. Davenport wanted to see you when you woke up." Adam says as he hits the ball again.

"Alright where is he?" I ask.

"Kitchen." Adam answers quickly as he dives to hit the ball. After watching them for a couple more seconds I go upstairs. Mr. Davenport is sipping coffee and talking to Tasha when I walk in.

"Chase, how are you feeling?" He asks as I walk in.

"Fine I guess, but a little tired." I admit.

"Listen buddy I need to talk to you about something." He says with a serious tone.

"What is it?"

"After you passed out Dr. Mar told me something you are not going to want to hear."

"What?" My heart is abusing my rib cage.

"I'm just going to be straight with you, he told me he thinks you should stop going to school."

"WHAT! Heck no! I just got my chip back and school is the only think I actually like about life. Plus it's the one thing I am good at and now that I can't go on missions, school is all I have left. There is no way I am quitting-"

"Hold on there. I never said anything about quitting. I said stop going to. There are other options. You can get your GED, be homeschooled or you could even take the rest of the year off. Then in the fall when you are healthier, you can go back to school and be in the same grade as Leo." He explains.

"There is no way I am getting my GED. How many astronaut lawyers do you know have GED's?" I him.

"Well that leaves you with the opinions of taking a year off or homeschooling."

"I don't really want to do homeschooling, but I hate the idea of taking a whole year off school."

"Homeschooling?" He asks.

"Homeschooling." I breathe.

**: -) Any homeschoolers out there?**

**Sorry for the grammar/ spelling/ punctuation **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It's been 2 weeks since I started homeschooling. That's 2 more sessions of chemo, 2 more support group meetings and 2 more weeks of taking steroids. My appearance has changed so much. The steroids have caused my face to swell, but chemo has taken the biggest toll. My hair is all but gone and I am so exhausted all the time. Often time I am short of breath and have headaches. It's also really hard to think some times. Everyone has tried to help as much as possible, but sometimes they just get in the way rather than help.

"Chase, you need to do your math." Tasha tells me. We are both sitting at the dinner table. Tasha has decided to take a break from work so she can talk care of me and home school me.

"But I don't want to." I whine.

"I know you are tired. I know it has been really hard on you this past couple weeks, but you need to do this." She persists.

"No you don't know. You don't know how hard this has been. How could you possibly know?" I snap. Oh, one other thing, chemotherapy can give you bad mood swings.

"I know a little more than you think." She says seriously. She looks close to tears.

"Do you?" I push.

"Yes, in fact I do." She stands up.

"How could _you _possibly know?" I stand up. Her lip quivers.

"My husband had cancer." She blurts out. She sits back down and starts to cry.

"What, are you saying Leo's dad had-?"

"Yes, I am. Leo's dad died of bone cancer when Leo was 3 years old."

"I'm sorry Tasha, I didn't know…"

"I know you didn't and I know you didn't mean to snap." She stops crying and wipes her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

"No, I have long since pushed those feelings away. All I want is for you to try and work hard at school. I understand this is hard on your body and that you feel awful, but you have to push through it." I nod and walk over to her and give her a hug. I do the math and then Tasha says I can go and take a nap. When I get down stairs Mr. Davenport is down there working on an invention.

"Hey Chase, do you want to work on an invention with me? I'm working on a new rocket for NASA." He asks.

"I really want to, but I am really tired." I yawn. I walk into my capsule sit on the ground and lean against my capsule. I can't stand and sleep anymore, it drains me too much. Soon I am asleep. I sleep through dinner into the next day.

The next morning I wake up and see Leo and Mr. Davenport busily working in the lab. There are all kinds of inventions scattered everywhere and Mr. Davenport and Leo are smiling and talking.

"Hey guys, what are you doing?" I ask them. I can already tell this is going to be one of those 'good cancer' days. None of them are every really 'good', but there are some better days.

"Oh umm, hi Chase." Mr. Davenport says awkwardly. "We are umm, getting ready for The Call." I think you could literally hear my heart break. They are getting ready for The Call without me? How could they do that? Mr. Davenport knows this is one of my favorite days of the year.

"When were you guys going to tell me?" I ask them.

"We didn't really think about it." Leo says.

"Leo!" Mr. Davenport scolds. "It's just that you have been so sick lately, so we didn't really think you could do it."

"Well I can." I snap.

"Alright, Chase do you want to help me get ready for The Call?" He asks.

"Yes." I start to set up for The Call. Organizing inventions, getting the cameras ready and thinking of ways to present different, unless inventions. I mean seriously who needs a pocket welder?

"Alright guys we have 5 minutes until we go live." Mr. Davenport says a couple hours later. "Leo and I will do the pretentions. Chase you… go get us lunch."

"Why can't I help present?" I ask.

"Well, umm…" Mr. Davenport stubbles.

"Chase, you aren't as photogenic as you used to be. If you know what I mean." My mouth practically hits the ground. Leo is referring to my hairlessness and swollen face. I get I don't look as good as I used to, but it still hurt to hear him say that.

"LEO DOOLEY!" Mr. Davenport yells.

"Fine, whatever, I'm going up stairs to hang out with Adam." I stomp away. Upstairs Adam is playing video games.

"Hey Adam, do you want to do something together?" I ask trying not to look upset.

"I really want to, but my friends from school and I are going to watch a football game, but maybe some other time." He says as he grabs his coat and heads out the front door. Alright, what about Bree maybe she has a boy she wants to vent about.

"Hey Bree!" I call. I wait for an answer.

"Yeah?" She calls back. I use my super hearing and locate her upstairs in Tasha's sewing room. I walk up the stairs and find her and Tasha sewing.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"Tasha is helping me with a Home Ec. project." She answers.

"Cool, after that do you want to do something with me?" I ask.

"I was going to the mall to hang out with some friends, but maybe some other time." She says.

"Okay, what about you Tasha do you want to do something together?" I ask her.

"Sure sweetie, just give me a minute." She smiles. I go downstairs and take a nap on the couch. When I wake up Bree is leaving and Tasha is in the kitchen.

"Good you're up, what do you want to do?" She asks.

"I don't know, a board game maybe?" A couple minutes later we are spread out on the floor playing Monopoly.

"I'm sorry your sister couldn't do something with us." She apologizes.

"It's alright. She's probably having more fun with her friends anyway." I mumble.

"Hey Chase, you getting us lunch or what?" Leo calls from the elevator.

"No." I snap.

"Okay." He says defensively. Once he is out of the room Tasha turns to me.

"What was that about?"

"They didn't tell me about the call and then when I found out they wouldn't let me help present the inventions because of my appearance." I sigh.

"Oh my gosh, that's awful." She gasps. "I'll go down there right now and set them straight. How dare they say that!"

"No Tasha, it's okay. They have a point. I mean it hurt, but I don't really care anymore." I stop her.

"Are you sure, because I have no problem with yelling at the both of them." She assures me.

"No, I'm fine."

"Fine, but they are both going to hear it from me later." She huffs. I smile, Tasha is such an amazing person.

**Sorry about not updating for a while, but I dropped my lap top and the thing is destroyed and I was just so depressed I couldn't write. **


End file.
